House of the Week

Boxwood Mansion, Madison, GA 1851-52

Okay - I have a problem. But it won't surprise you if you have been reading Whitehaven over the last few weeks.

I am just a little, teeny bit obsessed with Madison, Georgia and it's gorgeous white clapboard houses. I am driving my family crazy talking about it. Over the weekend I ordered some old black and white photos of Madison houses to frame. I am taking my daughter there for the Christmas house tour and then going back with my husband for a weekend trip in December. When I like something, I really like it!

Now on to Boxwood Mansion. I love this house!!! It was my absolute favorite when I walked the blocks of Academy Street and Old Post Road. It's now hidden in over grown landscaping, so maybe it's the mystery that got me. When I got back to my hotel I asked several people if they knew the owners and would they ask if I could come see the house. No luck...

The house was built in 1851-2 by Wilds Kolb and is a town house based on "A Suburban Cottage in the Italian Style" from Andrew Jackson Downing's pattern book called The Architecture of Country Houses. It has two facades, one facing Old Post Road, which has a classical one story Doric portico (pictured in the first three photos) and another facing Academy Street which is Italianate in style with a veranda. (this is pictured below)

It is now owned by the Newton family, they have owned it since 1906.

The gardens are beautiful and there is a terrific article about them in Garden and Gun - click here.

The formal facade of Boxwood before the gardens were so overgrown.

This is one of the photos I ordered to frame.